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Because Trails -
Because Trails -
Skills Clinics -
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Educational Talks
Our Story
Why Because Trails
Because Trails was founded by Lori Hauswirth, a long-time trail advocate, mountain biker, and outdoor enthusiast. Lori has been exploring trails and getting lost (intentionally) in the woods from her earliest years growing up in Marquette, Michigan. She purchased her first mountain bike in 1983 and has been riding trails ever since. As a professional mountain bike instructor since 2012 and founder of the Copper Harbor Ladies Weekend, Lori has spent the last 10+ years helping establish and lead clinics around the Upper Midwest. The mountain bike has empowered her life and she strives to share that with others through skills instruction and advocating for more access to trails. Working with other professional coaches and guides, Lori, through Because Trails, caters events to the needs of participants with the ultimate goal of providing a supportive, fun, and inspiring environment.
Lori has been the Executive Director of the Noquemanon Trails Network since 2018 after working six years in a combined role as Associate Region Director for the International Mountain Bicycle Association and Executive Director of the Copper Harbor Trails Club. This work has reinforced her belief in the power of trails to transform communities and improve quality of life.
Every Because Trails camp, clinic, or tour gives directly back to trails and trail organizations where events are hosted and encourages others to do the same. Because without trails, what would we do?
Click & Share the Trail Love
What we offer
Camps/Clinics
Because Trails Camps/Clinics are designed around structured skill progression and bringing people together to learn in a supportive environment. Our feature event is the annual Ladies MTB Camp held each June in Marquette, Michigan. The 2025 Ladies MTB Camp is Scheduled for May 30-June 1st. Registration for the 2025 event will open on January 5th.
Small Group and Individual Lessons
Because Trails is not currently offering regular lessons. We would love to put you in touch with local coaches/instructors that can help you achieve personal riding goals. Please email us at info@becausetrails.com and we will help connect you.
Trail Tours
If you are coming to the U.P. and want to ride the best trails, Because Trails can put you in touch with a local guide. Locals know all the secrets as well as how to connect trails to give you a perfect day. Please email us at info@becausetrails.com and we will send your request to some of our favorite locals.
Meet Our Coaches
Lori Hauswirth
Because Trails FounderLori is a passionate advocate for trails and gets to spend her days promoting and supporting the Noquemanon Trail Network in Marquette, Michigan as their Executive Director. A native "yooper", Lori's roots are in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and can't remember a time that trails weren't part of everyday life. Lori covets rocky, technical rides, adventuring with her furry kids, Meeko, Harlow and Rocket. She can be found exploring mountain bike trails from Utah to Florida during the off-season with her fiance Nick.
Laurie Woodbury
MTB Camp CoachLaurie is a life-long lover of sport and raced triathlons for years including 14 Ironman distance races. She eventually saw the light and switched from road to mountain biking, catching the multi-day stage racing bug in the process. She has 23 stage races under her belt in the U.S., Canada, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Morocco. Laurie claims to have no speed but can go for days. She is BICP Level 1 certified and her goal is to help other riders achieve the sense of freedom and feeling of accomplishment that she has while on a mountain bike.
Deb Leaf
MTB Camp CoachDeb started biking at 46 years old, and found her life passion after diving in head first. Living in a strong bike community made it easy to get immersed in the fellowship of the mountain bike community. Learning life lessons along the way, Deb knew she had to pay forward the gifts she has been given over the last eight years. Deb sites watching people conquer fears and building strong bonds with others as the biggest reward of being a mountain bike instructor. During the day, Deb is a small business owner and also has a vacation rental available in Ishpeming as a jumping off point for exploring the RAMBA Trails.
Melissa Werkman
MTB Camp CoachA bike and outdoor lover since she could walk and is the happiest on the trail. Melissa is the former Executive Director of the Michigan Mountain Biking Association where she advocated for trail access, sustainable trail building and founded the MMBA Clinic Series. She is the co-founder of Moxie Wild - a women’s outdoor guiding company that encourages women to get outside, try something new and gain confidence through the experience, largely via bike adventures. Melissa really digs coaching – especially people new to the sport. A professional coach since 2017 and can often be found coaching at mountain biking clinics around the region. Melissa holds her BICP Level 1 instructor certification.
Coach Becky
MTB Camp CoachCoach Becky is a Milwauke Native who wanted to be a "cool tough girl" and bought a mountain bike during college days. Through a lot of fear and frustration, she learned and eventually got good at, and found JOY in mountain biking. She believes that it's possible to learn and love riding without quite as many years of tears and frustration, so she went to Whistler to learn coaching from the pros at PMBI. She loves what she does! https://www.facebook.com/beckyteschMTBinstruction
Carleen Blaine
Event MechanicCarleen discovered a passion for cycling after taking a job as a bike mechanic while in college. She has been a bike mechanic for a total of thirteen years in Minneapolis, Seattle, and now Marquette. The fantastic trail network and close cycling community was a huge factor in her decision to move to the U.P. When she's not wrenching on bikes, you can find her in the woods mountain biking, fat biking, backpacking, snowshoeing, and XC skiing.
Val Foley
MTB Camp CoachCoach Val is a native of Northern Wisconsin, where she learned to ride and race on rocky, rooty, technical singletrack in the late 80’s. An avid racer and adventurer on and off road, she shares her passion for riding at skills clinics across the U.P. and northern Wisconsin. One of her favorite things to do is to bring more people into the community of mountain biking, especially women & girls! Val is a Level 1 PMBI, Level 1 BICP , & NICA Level 2 coach. She is also the Little Bellas Program Lead for the Rhinelander, WI program.
Brenda Zimmerman
MTB Camp CoachCoach Brenda started her riding career delivering daily newspapers by bmx bike in middle school and put all the proceeds into upgraded bike parts. She rides several disciplines and finds pure joy in growing other’s confidence and skills on the bike. She is certified through BICP, PMBI, and NICA. In 2021, she founded For the Love of Bikes with Deb Leaf, offering skills clinics at various locations in the midwest. Her favorite place to ride is Trestle Bike Park in Winter Park, Colorado.
Lynn Wolf
MTB Camp CoachLynn started riding her bike thru the woods of northern Michigan before mountain biking was a thing. Over time her love of bike and being the woods grew to the point she decided to get serious about learning technique 10 years ago. That passion turned into Lynn becoming a member of the TOMMBA Board and a BICP Level 1 Coach in 2022. She is excited to teach everything from introductory skills to jumps, drops, and enduro prep while sharing her passion for riding!
Registration
Grab a spot in one of our upcoming events!
May 2024
Ladies MTB Camp: May 31st - June 2nd, 2024 (We are full!)
**All Slots are Filled for this Year's Event.**
If you'd like to join the waitlist, please send us an email at info@becausetrails.co
Looking Forward to Dirt Season? We Are!
Thanks for stopping by to check out the 2024 Because Trails Ladies MTB Camp scheduled for May 31st - June 2nd. We hope you can join us on the amazing trails of Marquette, Michigan for two+ days of skill building and on the trail learning with professional mountain bike instructors from across the region. Any woman 18 and over, including those new to the bike who want to improve their riding in a supportive, fun environment are welcome to attend. This is not a fitness camp, it is a skills camp focused on helping you become a better rider and comfortable on varied terrain. Marquette's NTN Trails will provide diverse ride options and the Because Trails MTB Camp coaches will cater riding and skills progression to attendees.
To cater to attendees, we organize the weekend across tracks and not only skill levels. Step one is to grab a seat for the weekend as registration spots are limited. Step two will be to watch for an email in the months ahead to sign up for specific tracks and sessions. Don't worry as we will do our best to assign coaches to accommodate everyone's desires.
Weekend at a Glance:
Friday Evening Talks at Forestville:
The Weekend will kick off by gathering at Forestville for technical and inspirational talks. When women get together there are experiences and knowledge to share on and off the bike. Want to learn when to use a dropper post? We can help with that. Not sure how what to bring in your pack for a day on the trail? We can help with that too. Not sure how to overcome fear of a rock garden or wood bridge? We've been there. Amongst our ranks are some pretty darn badass ladies and they love to answer your questions about all the things bike and life.
Saturday Sessions:
New to Trails, New to the Bike. This track will be catered to those very new to riding and those that have never taken a clinic before. You will start your weekend with skills and drills to get you confident on your bike. From there we will progress you to the trail based on your readiness for easy to more challending terrain.
Skills I Got, Help Me Apply Them to the Trail. You've done a clinic, maybe two, maybe five and you have bike body separation down. This track will be centered on taking your skills to the trail and conquering fears on those technicial climbs and rocky descents.
Tell Me About This Enduro Thing. Maybe you've heard about enduro, want to try enduro, or are enduro curious. Our coaches will talk to you about all the elements of giving enduro racing a try then take you to the trail to talk tactics and trail skills. The Enduro track will finish off with a fun practice enduro segment!
Let's Play At the Park. That mountain bike park is not just for the kids. You've watched others roll through the jumps or maybe you've always wanted to catch air. We will introduce you to park elements from rollers to drops to small jumps so you can show up your mate or your kid.
Saturday Night Social:
A tradition for Ladies Weekend is a Saturday night social where we gather to talk about the day (Location TBA). Note: For those that have attended in previous years, the Start the Cycle gear swap has been retired.
Sunday Funday:
After honing your skills across the greater Marquette trails, Sunday will be a time to join new friends for a choice of rides out of different Marquette County Trail Systems. Participants will sign up on Friday night. Our coaches will be your guides to great trails and sessioning of features. You will end the weekend with improved riding skills and new mountain bike friends.
Who Should Attend?
If you are new to mountain biking, have been riding for years but never had mountain bike instruction, are looking to further your skills from other clinics, or just want to meet new riding friends, this event is for you!
What Kind of Bike Do I Need?
Any mountain bike designed for off trail use will do. Even better if it has dual suspension but not necessary. Fat tire bike, yes. We also welcome Class 1 e-bikes (max 20 mph, pedal-assist only). Not sure if you bike is right? Please ask.
Weekend Schedule
We will be dialing in the schedule in the months ahead but plan on starting the evening at 6:00pm on Friday at Forestville Trailhead with registration followed with talks kicking off at 6:30pm. (We do recommend coming early to enjoy some time on the trails before camp kicks off). Saturday will be focused around your choice of tracks organized by skill level and run from 9am - 4pm. Sunday will be rider's choice with participants choosing their group rides with wrap up around 2pm. The final schedule will be emailed a few week's prior to the event.
Registration Fee
Cost for the camp including educational clinics on Friday and 2 days of on the bike instruction; friday evening beverages/snacks, lunch on Saturday and breakfast goodies on Sunday; and a commemorative tshirt is $325 (includes online processing fee)*. Every Because Trails event includes a donation to the local trail organization maintaining the trails we ride for the event. Please support and contribute to the trail organizations where you play. #becausetrails
*If Marquette Mountain lift service is open for our event, we hope to incorporate their awesome trails. An additional fee may apply to access their property. We will notify anyone impacted by this ahead of the event.
Refunds:
80% refund until April 30. 50% refund until May 15th.
No refunds after May 15, 2024.
Camp registrants are welcome to fill their spot if they are unable to attend at no cost up until May 15th, 2024.
Please contact Because Trails for refund or attendee change.
Limited Spots
Participation is capped so we can provide a quality experience for all attendees. Be sure to register as soon as possible as spots will fill fast. Once spots are full we will open a waiting list.
Lodging
See Travel Marquette for all things from lodging to family activities. There are plenty of diverse lodging options available across Marquette but don’t wait to reserve. Rippling River Resort is on the South Trails and is a good home base for the weekend. Rustic camping is also available at the Forestville Trailhead where we kick off the weekend.
More to Know
We will survey you ahead of the clinic for a number of things including dietary requirements. Food for ladies weekend is sourced from some of our favorite local stores and restaurants.Additional questions? Please send an email to info@becausetrails.com